Steve ‘Stavros’ Parrish is a notable figure in the motorcycling world, having raced Grand Prix motorcycles, the Isle of Man TT, and Truck Racing and he was even the late great Barry Sheene’s teammate in the Herron Suzuki GP team.
2024 though might have seen Parrish taking part in what could be his weirdest race to date, as he helped to prove that buses are better at cutting through traffic than bikes are - although we all know that isn’t really true, is it?
And we say bike, but this challenge was equivalent to a fighter entering a boxing ring with one arm tied behind their back, as Steve wasn't riding some ripsnorting sports bike, lightweight 125, or even a scooter. No, the bike selected for this race was Steve’s cherished Panther motorcycle and sidecar outfit. So yeah, he’s on the back foot already.
The route went from the Dunstable branch of Asda to Luton Railway Station. Quite the glamorous setup, we’re sure you’ll agree.
Steve also had to keep to the public road, and while the journey to the station was, pretty much, a straight road with a couple of turns, the bus took to a fancy new ‘guided busway’ meaning the driver of the vehicle avoided other traffic and didn’t have to do much more than accelerate and brake.
When all was said and done, Steve inevitably lost the race, so there we have it, buses are better than bikes, time to sell the R1 and get yourself a bus pass.
(Jokes - please don’t do that!)
